Myers's (Monster) compellingly readable novel in verse unfolds through an array of characters, all linked by Damien Battle and Junice Ambers who both live in Harlem but come from very different worlds. Damien has been accepted to Brown University; Junice's mother has been sentenced to 25 years for possession and drug dealing. A pair of early rap poems set up a rivalry between Damien and Sledge (whose "crew... wore their colors"), and also Damien's fascination with a "beauty" who "walks darkly, as if her mind weighs down/ Her steps," later revealed to be Junice. Myers crafts some memorable moments here, as when Junice describes her mother ("She gave freely/ To those in need, or to those who, like/ Her, were broken, and needed a fix") or when Miss Ruby, Junice's grandmother, expresses grief for her convicted daughter in a blues poem ("Yeah, it's hard, baby/ It's hard right down to the bone/ I said Oh, it's hard baby/ It's hard right down to the very bone/ It's hard when you're a woman/ And you find yourself all alone") and the banter between Damien and a buddy. Yet some readers may wish for a deeper understanding of what draws Damien to Junice, and why he risks his own family's upheaval and his future at Brown for this new romance. Though both Damien and Junice come off as sympathetic characters, their attraction to each other remains a mystery. Ages 12-up. (Nov.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Street Love
Narrated by Corey Allen, Carra Patterson, Karen Chilton, Korey Jackson
Walter Dean MyersUnabridged — 1 hours, 54 minutes
Street Love
Narrated by Corey Allen, Carra Patterson, Karen Chilton, Korey Jackson
Walter Dean MyersUnabridged — 1 hours, 54 minutes
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Overview
Your first love is totally wrong for you.
Do you follow your heart?
Or do you run away?
Junice
What am I doing?
He'll take one quick look. And wish he was anywhere else but here.
I'm already ashamed of what I think. He will think of me, of the life I lead.
Damien.
Yes, she is the fruit that will Sustain me and yes, she brings. A rain that I know can chill.
But it is a rain so sweet and sings. A song my soul insists. That I follow, if I would exist.
As more than I have ever, ever been If my mother calls it evil, then I embrace the sin.
Editorial Reviews
Gr 8 Up-The swift flow of these short poems carries readers along in thoughts, conversations, and scenes as Damien and Junice's romance begins. He is a high achiever who has been accepted to Brown University and is expected to go far. Junice has just lost her mother to prison and is trying to keep her younger sister and her grandmother together as a family. Damien and Junice question who they are and who they will become. Hip-hop-style phrases feel like Shakespeare telling of these African-American teens in Harlem, struggling to keep it together. Intellect meets Street as true love conquers all. This is a quick and satisfying read, simple and timeless.-Corinda J. Humphrey, Los Angeles Public Library Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Adult and young-adult aficionados of Myers's work will find this new offering revisits issues close to the author's heart: place (Harlem with all its love and squalor), race and the court system (you've got trouble if you're black and poor and in front of a judge), values for boys of color (street crime or achievement) and love of the community. This verse novel, in which entire poems dazzle readers with rhyme and rhythm and voice, finds Damien, a straight-A student, headed for Brown University. But he falls in love with Junice, a girl whose mother has just been incarcerated for selling drugs, and his direction could change. Readers enjoy multiple perspectives on this romance and the decision Damien makes. A cliffhanger conclusion might give some diehard fans the need to reflect and accept the unexpected. This quasi-Romeo and Juliet will easily find its place alongside Sharon Mills Draper's Romiette and Julio (1999), Myers's short story, "Kitty and Mack: a Love Story," West Side Story and of course, the Shakespearean play itself. (Fiction. YA)
"Adult and young-adult aficionados of Myers’s work will find this new offering revisits issues close to the author’s heart: place, race and the court system , values for boys of color, and love of the community. This verse novel, in which entire poems dazzle readers with rhyme and rhythm and voice, finds Damien, a straight-A student, headed for Brown University. But he falls in love with Junice, a girl whose mother has just been incarcerated for selling drugs, and his direction could change. Readers enjoy multiple perspectives on this romance and the decision Damien makes." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“The realistic drama on the street and at home tells a gripping story. Readers will want to reread the lines they loved.” — Booklist (starred review)
“This deeply felt, poignant story is told in deft strokes, with memorable language. Both male and female YAs will be able to relate. The tale’s brevity and evocation of strong emotions will give it appeal to reluctant readers as well.” — KLIATT (starred review)
"Myers's compellingly readable novel in verse unfolds through an array of characters, all linked by Damien Battle and Junice Ambers—who both live in Harlem but come from very different worlds." — Publishers Weekly
"The swift flow of these short poems carries readers along in thoughts, conversations, and scenes as Damien and Junice’s romance begins. Hip-hop style phrases feel like Shakespeare telling of these African-American teens in Harlem, struggling to keep it together. Intellect meets Street as true love conquers all. This is a quick and satisfying read, simple and timeless." — School Library Journal
"The lovers' fate will undoubtedly spark lively and thoughtful discussion." — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
"The novel transforms the Romeo and Juliet story into an episode from the here and now. The novel's format allows the reader to peer directly into the thoughts and feelings of the main characters. Hip-hop fans, readers of poetry, and hopeless romantics will respond to the emotional vibrancy of this powerful work." — Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)
“The beauty of this Romeo and Juliet…a story of blind hope and pure young love (possible, here, even for the bruised and jaded).” — Horn Book Magazine
The realistic drama on the street and at home tells a gripping story. Readers will want to reread the lines they loved.
"The lovers' fate will undoubtedly spark lively and thoughtful discussion."
"The novel transforms the Romeo and Juliet story into an episode from the here and now. The novel's format allows the reader to peer directly into the thoughts and feelings of the main characters. Hip-hop fans, readers of poetry, and hopeless romantics will respond to the emotional vibrancy of this powerful work."
The beauty of this Romeo and Juliet…a story of blind hope and pure young love (possible, here, even for the bruised and jaded).
This deeply felt, poignant story is told in deft strokes, with memorable language. Both male and female YAs will be able to relate. The tale’s brevity and evocation of strong emotions will give it appeal to reluctant readers as well.
"The lovers' fate will undoubtedly spark lively and thoughtful discussion."
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940172572654 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Recorded Books, LLC |
| Publication date: | 02/18/2020 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
Read an Excerpt
Street Love
By Walter Myers
HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.
Copyright © 2006 Walter MyersAll right reserved.
ISBN: 0060280794
Harlem
Autumn in Harlem.
Fume-choked leaves, already
Yellowed, crack in the late September
Breeze. Weeds, city tough, city brittle,
Push defiantly along the concrete edges
Of Malcolm X Boulevard. On 137th Street
A toothless sidewalk vendor neatly stacks
His dark knit caps beside the plastic cell
Phone covers. Shadows indistinct in August heat
Now deepen and grow long across
The wide streets. Homeless men sniff the air and
Know that somewhere the Hawk stirs.
Harlem is not an easy place
To grow old, and so the young
Are everywhere,
Pouring from the buses, city dancing
To the rhythms of the street,
City dancing to the frantic spin of life
In the fast lane.
Continues...
Excerpted from Street Love by Walter Myers Copyright © 2006 by Walter Myers. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
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